Cat Chat Feline Forum

My little cat Harry, 12yo, has very hard, dry marble- size poo. Can anyone recommend a stool softener? He eats wet food, some dry and drinks lots of water probably due to diuretics he has to take every day. He has bowel and heart issues and takes many other pills so wondered if a paste on his paw to lick off rather than a diet change would work?

Could be a side effect of the diuretics, I would discuss with your vet and maybe the dosage can be tweaked to make him more comfortable without compromising his heart too much.

Hi Mollycat. I have spoken to the cardio vet who doesn’t want to reduce the diuretic as Harry has congestive heart failure and it keeps it under control along with other meds. She suggested he needed more fibre in his diet, preferably wet. I have a cupboard full of vet food which none of my cats will touch. I also spoke to our usual vet who suggested lactulose rather than changing his food. I see that there are many pastes online for furballs, and one or two laxative ones I’ve never heard of. So any suggestions from anyone with experience of this and what worked for their cat would be appreciated. Btw, Harry also has ibd.

Check with your vet whether a little olive oil on his food would help and/or be ok. My sister's cat had megacolon and this kept her moving, but I realise hard poo due to the effects of diuretics is a slightly different scenario.

It's because he is on diuretics for a heart condition that you need to work with your vet. Remedies you can buy can and often do interact negatively with medications or the condition itself. Same for humans, even vitamin supplements and some foods can interfere with medication. As an example people on some blood thinners must not eat grapefruit - you'd think grapefruit was an innocent thing but it interferes. Please take your vet's advice before giving your cat any remedy, even if it was fine for someone else's cat it might not be for yours.

Hi lilynmitz, I posted a reply earlier but it’s disappeared! The cardio vet doesn’t think the diuretics are causing the hardness/dryness, but it seems a coincidence. I’ll ask our usual vet about the oil.

Mollycat, you’re right. I wouldn’t give him anything before checking with the vet first.